Means for changing the direction of carriage movements in typewriters



Oct. 28, 1952 sco MEANS FOR CHANGING THE DIRECTION OF CARRIAGE MOVEMENTSIN TYPEWRITERS Flled July 22 1949 IIYVVENTTOR Ezzzo Ascoli. 6%; W

ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 28, 1952 MEANS FOR CHANGING THE DIRECTION OFCARRIAGE MOVEMENTS INTYPEWRITERS Enzo Ascoli, Yverdon, Switzerland,assignor to 'Paillard S. A., Sainte-Croix, Switzerland, a corporation ofSwitzerland Application July 22, 1949, Serial No. 106,173 In SwitzerlandApril 27, 1949 9 Claims.

1 In general the types of typewriters for typing from right to left, ofwhich the manufacture is much less extensive usually than that ofmachines for typing from left to right, difier from the latter maticallyand by way of example typewriters provided with two different forms ofconstruction of the device.

Fig. 1 is a side view, with parts broken away,

by some modifications for adapting them to the 5 of a typewriterprovided with a device according particularities of the language (forexample to a first form of construction. Hebrew, Arabic and so forth).Manufacturers Fig. 2 is a detail view, to a larger scale, of a arecompelled to reduce to a minimum the necesmodification of the deviceshown in Fig. 1. sary modifications for reasons of standardization Fig.3 isa side view, with parts broken away, and cost. The mechanismschiefly afiected by the of a typewriter provided with a device accordingadaptation, in a normal typewriter (typing from to a second form ofconstruction. 1 left to right), for reversed typing, are the control Fi4 s a det l ew, to a larger S o the of the line spacing lever from theright to left, device shown in Fig. 3. the back space key, the returnfor the carriage, The machine shown in the drawing is provided thetabulator and so forth,- but the mechanism with a framework I on whichslides a carria 2 which requires the most considerable conversioncarrying the platen 3. The movements of the is formed by the assembly ofthe members ensurcarriage are guided by rails 4 provided on the said ingthe escapement of the carriage in the opposite carriage, on the Onehand, and O a pp 5 direction, from right to left. These members, in s rto th fr m work, on h oth r h n and nearly all modern typewriters,include, amongst between which are located balls 6 or other roll otherthings, the escapement device proper, with members. Like all other typwr rs, that Show its normal controls and back space key, the is p v h aneseepement device 1 toothed pinion and the rack. trolling the step bystep feed of the carriage dur- The reversal of the direction ofactuation of g typ ng- The escapement device, secured these members isgenerally obtained by means d y 0 the framework l, s provided with asubstantially affecting the construction and nepinion 9 gear g with arack Carried by the cessitating the addition of supplementary parts arrige or the replacement of normal parts by separate A typewriter accordingto the invention is proparts. These known means are more particularlyvided with a securing device enabling the said the reversal of theescapement with conversion k to e pl c on the Ca in two of the securingand of the connections which lead metrical positions relatively to thepinion 9 and to this device (normal control and back space whichconsequently enables the desired direction key) the addition of anintermediate pinion of feed of the carriage to be obtainediby selectionbetween the main pinion of the escapement and of the securing positionof the rack on the carthe rack of the carriage; and the replacement rageof the normal escapement by a separate reversed In the form ofconstruction shown in Fig. 1, escapement, particularly conceived andmanuthe rack is c r by pp ts 1 I wh ch O e factured for this purpose.only 'is shown in the drawing), of 'general U- The present invention hasfor its subject a shape. The rack is secured to the end of one oftypewriter provided with a framework carrying 40 the limbs of the U,whilst the other limb is sea carriage of which the movements arecontrolled cured to the carriage 2 by a Securing member by a piniongearing with a rack and provided The securing member is located in ahorizontal with a device for reversing the direction of adplane passingthrough the axis of the pinion 9 vance of the said carriage. Thistypewriter is so that the supports Il may be secured to thedistinguished from known typewriters by the fact carriage, either in theposition shown in full lines, that it is provided with a device forsecuring the in which the rack gear with the upper teeth of rackenabling it to be placed into two symmetrical the pinion, or in theposition shown; in chain positions relatively to the said pinion andthus dotted lines, in which the rack gears with the modifying thedirection of feed of the carriage. lower teeth of the pinion 9. From theforegoing The accompanying drawing shows: diagramand by examination ofFig. 1, it will be seen carriage, the manufacturer has the possibilityof obtaining the control of the carriage in one direction or the otherby the pinion 9, without modifying any part or element of theescapement.

In the modification shown in Fig. 2, is shown a part of the framework Iof the machine, on the one hand, and a part of the carriage 2 on theother hand. The first carries the escapement wheel 1 and the pinion 9.To the second, which is opposite thereto, are secured, by screws i211located in the plane of the axis of the pinion 9, the supports I I ofthe rack.

As explained with reference to Fig. 1, the supports may occupy theposition shown in full lines or in chain dotted lines according to thedesired direction of feed of the carriage.

In the form of construction shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the typewriter isprovided with a clutch lever I3, pivoted at M on a part of the carriageand subjected to the action of a spring l6 tending to hold it in contactwith a stop 17. The lever is connected to one of the supports 1 i by alink hinged at one end, at 25, to the lever l3 and at the other end, at26, to the said support ii. The supports H are not secured rigidly tothe carriage but can oscillate on their securing members 1212, so thatwhen actuating the lever It, the user produces oscillation of thesupports H and the disengagement of the teeth of the rack from those ofthe pinion 9. Thus,

the mechanical connection between the escapement and the carriage isinterrupted so that the latter may be actuated freely in order to moveit rapidly into a desired position.

When the manufacturer of the machine desires movement of the carriage inthe opposite direction, he secures the rack to supports l8 oscillatingon securing members i9 carried by the carriage. The supports I8 areidentical with the supports H and support with these a common trunnion20 which engages with a semi-circular notch provided in the end of eachof the supports II and i8. As the action of the toggle is the same,whether the lever 13 is moved towards the left or towards the right, itis possible at will to replace the stop (1 and the spring 56 by a stop2| and a spring 22. As described above, a push applied to the lever 13,against the action of its return spring, produces the disengagement ofthe teeth of the rack from those of the pinion 9. In fact the supports[8 are caused to carry out an angular movement by the trunnions withwhich they engage, at the same time as the supports II.

The stops l1, 2| respectively, as also the hinge axis of the clutchlever on the carriage, are so arranged that when the rack is in theengaging position with the pinion 9 and the lever 13 is held in contactwith its stop by its return spring, the three hinge points I1, 25 and 26are located on a straight line. In this manner there is obtained atoggle which, in the position of service of the rack (shown in thedrawing), opposes the tendency of the pinion and the rack from movingapart under the action of the radial component of the force which isapplied to the teeth.

I claim:

1. A typewriter comprising a framework, a carriage movably mounted insaid framework, a

platen mounted on said carriage, a rack on said carriage, a pinionrotatably mounted in said framework and engaging with said rack, andmeans reversibly securing said rack to said carriage, said securingmeans mounting said rack in either of two symmetrical positionsrelatively to said pinion so as to modify the direction of movement ofsaid carriage.

A typewriter according to claim 1, wherein said securing means for saidrack comprises supports and for each support a member for reversiblysecuring same to said carriage, said member located in a plane parallelto the axis of the platen and containing the axis of rotation of thepinion with which said rack engages.

3. A typewriter according to claim 1, wherein said securing means forsaid rack comprises supports and for each support a member for securingsame to said carriage, said member located in a plane parallel to theaxis of the platen and containing the axis of rotation of the pinionwith which said rack engages, said supports being of general U-shape andcarrying the rack at the end of one of their limbs, the other limbserving to secure said supports.

4. A typewriter according to claim 1, wherein said securing means forsaid rack comprises supports and for each support a member for securingsame to said carriage, said member located in a plane parallel to theaxis of the platen and containing the axis of rotation of the pinionwith which said rack engages, said supports being secured laterally tosaid carriage.

5. A typewriter according to claim 1, wherein said securing means forsaid rack comprises supports and for each support a member for securingsame to said carriage, said member located in a plane parallel to theaxis of the platen and containing the axis of rotation of the pinionwith which said rack engages, the axes of the securing members of saidsupports being located parallel to the axis of rotation of said pinion.

6. A typewriter according to claim 1, wherein said securing means forsaid rack comprises two identical, oppositely arranged supports and foreach support a member for pivoting same to said carriage, said membersbeing located symmetrically with regard to a plane parallel to the axisof the platen and containing the axis of rotation of the pinion withwhich said rack engages, and said typewriter also comprises an actuatinglever, and a return spring associated with said ctuating lever, saidlever acting on the supports for the rack so as to move the rack intoand out of engagement with said Pinion.

7. A typewriter according to claim 1,- wherein said securing means forsaid rack comprises two identical, oppositely arranged supports and foreach support a member for pivoting same to said carriage, said membersbeing located symmetrically with regard to a plane parallel to the axisof the platen and containing the axis of rotation of the pinion withwhich said rack engages, and said typewriter also comprises an actuatinglever, a return spring associated with said actuating lever, said leveracting on the supports for the rack so as to move the rack into and outof engagement with said pinion, and a toggle between the lever and thesupports, said lever acting on said supports through the medium of saidtoggle which, in the normal position, automatically locks the sup-portsagainst release under the action of the force exerted on the teeth ofthe pinion and rack.

8, A typewriter according to claim 7, wherein one of the supports isdirectly acted iipon by the actuating lever through the toggle andmounts the rack in position for moving the carriage in one direction,the other support serving to mount the rack in position for moving thecarriage in the opposite direction, and a connecting member common tosaid two supports is provided for moving the same in unison.

9. A typewriter according to claim 8, wherein said connecting membercommon to said two sup- 10 ports is formed by a trunnion which engageswith recesses in the oppositely located ends of said supports.

ENZO ASCOLI.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 835,453 Meyer et a1. Nov. 6, 19061,050,315 Turner Jan. 14, 1913 1,672,354 Tyberg June 5, 1928 1,738,950Goldenberg Dec. 10, 1929

